


best three out of four

by Katranga



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M, Post S6, bc i don't accept that, keith was only away 6 months instead of 2 years for 2 of these universes, season 6 reaction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-24 19:43:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14960946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katranga/pseuds/Katranga
Summary: Three universes where Keith and Lance don't end up together after Keith comes back from floating through a weird timey abyss on a space whale, and one where they do.--Keith squeezed Lance’s shoulder, ostensibly to push him out of his way, but he held on a second longer than necessary to reassure himself Lance was really right there in front of him.His response was gruff, dismissive. A reminder to himself as much as Lance. “We don’t have time for this, Lance.”There would be a chance to talk once Lotor was defeated.





	best three out of four

**Author's Note:**

> So I had a few ideas about how this would all shake out, and instead of picking one, I just wrote all of them. I hope the format is understandable lol--Keith thinks about the same stuff at the beginning of each part, there was just no reason to copy paste, so I paraphrased/skipped bits.  
> Also I've only watched s6 once so far and I only proofread this once, so if there are any errors, please excuse me.  
> Enjoy!

Universe 1

Sometimes time passed like a montage. Sometimes each second, or tick—or whatever minuscule measurement of time that existed on this space whale—dragged by excruciatingly slow. Like Keith and Krolia weren’t moving at all, like they’d live and die alone and isolated on this whale, leaving the war and the universe to slog on without them.

When time seemed to pause like that, his chest pulled tight and he’d be frozen by all the _nothing_ he could do.

Then he’d think about the team, about Shiro and Hunk and Pidge, and Coran and Allura… and Lance.

He couldn’t even remember if he’d said goodbye to Lance before he left on this mission that might be his last. Every decision was made in a split second, so often a choice between life and death. He hadn’t had a moment to think in months.

Now it was all he had.

And he always wound up back at Lance, and all their missed chances.

He could’ve told Lance so many times what he felt for him, what he wanted, what he hoped they could be. He let every last chance slip through his fingers, always banking on the next one.

If he got another, he wasn’t going to waste it.

As it turned out, he decided that early on in their journey.

Because his wolf kept growing, so time kept passing, and Keith grew, too.

And he couldn’t decide which was scarier, whether time in the real world was passing at the same rate as theirs or differently.

If it was the same, years were slipping by, the team was growing and moving on and wondering helplessly where he’d gone. It would be like he disappeared just like Shiro.

If time moved differently, Keith was either growing up before them, or they were fighting the war and getting old without him.

No option was good. Nothing was ideal.

“Hey.” Krolia crouched beside him in their cave. Keith’s wolf was splayed across his lap, nearly hiding Keith and his cold tears from sight. “We’re gonna get home, Keith. We’ll finish this fight.”

Keith swallowed a hiccup. The only upside to this situation was having the time to get to know his mother, but sometimes the divide between them was too great to cross. He wasn’t crying because he was missing out on the war. Right now he didn’t care if Haggar was ruling the universe, or Lotor, or if Zarkon had come back.

He missed his team. And his chest was going hollow thinking they’d forgotten about him.

He wound his fingers in his wolf’s fur, and the wolf turned her head, making a questioning sound in the back of her throat. She made him miss Red. Krolia made him miss Shiro.

Keith made himself miss Lance.

“It’s taking too long,” Keith muttered into his chest.

There wasn’t going to be any point telling Lance how he felt now. It was too late, no matter which way time was sliced.

“It takes as long as it takes.”

A wave of hot irritation rose in his chest. Keith opened his mouth to snap at her, but he couldn’t form his thoughts fast enough—her response wasn’t good enough, wasn’t _helpful_ —

Krolia squeezed his shoulder. “Sometimes patience is all we have.”

_Patience yields focus._

Keith took a breath. Shiro’s words, as always, centered him, brought him back to himself.

He scrubbed away his tears. “Fine.” The word scraped out of his throat.

 

The next day they exited the abyss and rejoined the rest of the universe.

Found the Altean. Learned all about who Lotor truly was. Returned to the Castle of Lions.

“Hold on, how do we know you’re the real Keith and not his bigger, cooler grizzled older brother?” Lance demanded. Joking and practical all at the same time.

Keith’s heart squeezed. The team surrounding him hadn’t changed a bit.

So he’d grown up without them. For two years. That’s how time worked out.

Keith’s response was gruff, dismissive. So desperate to focus on something they could fix—stopping Lotor. “We don’t have time for this, Lance.”

Because time had meaning again.

And Keith couldn’t even look at Lance, or he’d never stop.

And later, when he couldn’t tear his gaze away from Lance fawning over Allura, Lance giving heart eyes harder than ever before, Keith had to swallow past a lump in his throat.

Because he’d made the right choice. Their time was over.

 

Universe 2

Time passed in waves. Keith’s loneliness did, too.

His wolf sniffed him out in the cave, Keith swallowing down tears, all wrapped up in his head thinking about the team moving on without him. She promptly laid across his lap to help. That only made the tears pour harder, dripping onto her silky black fur. But he appreciated the company.

Krolia found him a few minutes later.

“Hey.” Krolia crouched in front of him. “We’ll get home, Keith. We’ll finish this fight.”

Keith shook his head. That’s not why he was upset. She tried her best, but sometimes she just didn’t get it, didn’t understand Keith or where he was coming from. They were alike in that way; bad at relating to people.

He shouldn’t get mad, he knew it all the way down to his core, but he didn’t care about the fucking war anymore. And her focusing on it stuck another spike of loneliness into his chest.

“You don’t get it!” His cracking voice echoed in the cave.

“What don’t I get?” Soft but firm. She was getting used to his outbursts.

“The team needs me, they’re waiting for me—” He needed the team, he’d been waiting so long to get back to them.

“They have other allies,” she tried to comfort him. “The Blade, the Coalition—”

So it didn’t matter that he was gone. He swallowed back a sob.

Distress crossed Krolia's features. “What’s wrong, Keith? Every war is bigger than two people. They’ll be fine until we get back.”

They’d be fine. Shiro would lead and Allura would study more magic, and Hunk, Pidge and Coran would learn about tech and work on the ship and Lance—Lance would move on, if he ever had anything to move on from in the first place.

“I miss him,” Keith mumbled into his chest.

He wouldn’t have to explain himself like this to Lance. He’d just _know_. Somehow, over the course of their friendship, he’d gotten good at reading Keith. Being there for him. Keith had promised himself he’d tell Lance the depth of his feelings when he got back, but he hardly saw the point now. There was too much distance, too much time. It wouldn’t work.

“Who?” Krolia asked. “Shiro?”

Keith shrugged a nod. He missed him, too. He missed all of them.

“Lance,” Krolia said, gentler but more definite.

Keith hadn’t told her how he felt, but maybe she knew him better than he thought.

He wiped a hand over his eyes. “Yeah.”

She sighed. She wedged herself in between the wall next to Keith, shimmying behind his wolf’s back. The wolf moved half an inch to accommodate her.

Krolia laid an arm around Keith’s shoulders. “I know it’s hard. After I left Earth, it felt like I’d left a huge chunk of my chest with you and your father. I didn’t know if I’d ever see either of you again. But we’re heading straight to Voltron when we get out of here, okay? You’ll see him again. And you can tell him how much you missed him then.”

He dropped his head on her shoulder, soaking in a mother’s comfort he never thought he’d get. His vulnerability spilled over, and he offered his secret in a small voice, “I love him, mom.”

“Oh, my sweet boy.” She smoothed down his hair. “I’m so happy for you.”

 

The next day they exited the abyss and rejoined the rest of the universe.

Found the Altean. Learned all about who Lotor truly was. Returned to the Castle of Lions.

“Hold on, how do we know you’re the real Keith and not his bigger, cooler grizzled older brother?” Lance demanded. Joking and practical all at the same time.

He looked the exact same as the last time Keith saw him.

So Keith had grown up without them. That was okay, right? They could still make it work.

Keith squeezed Lance’s shoulder, ostensibly to push him out of his way, but he held on a second longer than necessary to reassure himself Lance was really right there in front of him.

His response was gruff, dismissive. A reminder to himself as much as Lance. “We don’t have time for this, Lance.”

There would be a chance to talk once Lotor was defeated.

 

There almost wasn’t. If it wasn’t for the Black lion, Keith--and the truth about Shiro--would’ve been lost forever.

But Keith had Shiro back. And coming so close to losing him after fighting so hard to keep him no matter what shape he was in made Keith even more determined to tell Lance how he felt.

They were still on the planet they’d stopped on to revive Shiro, taking a breath and tending to wounds before they began their long journey back to Earth.

Keith couldn’t bring himself to leave Shiro’s side. Neither could Lance. Neither could Allura. They were on either side of Shiro, Keith at his head.

So Keith got a front row seat to Lance heart-eyeing over Allura harder than ever. He tried to convince himself that that wasn’t what he was seeing, and that Lance had just helped Allura to her feet earlier, there’d been no cradling in his arms.

And Lance kept _looking_ at her.

And Keith kept looking at Lance.

When their eyes finally met, his heart skipped a beat.

Lance tilted his head, reaching out to touch Keith’s face.

His breathing stopped.

“That’s new,” Lance said, drawing a finger over Keith’s jaw.

His face was on fire. “Huh?”

“It appears you’ve developed a Galra marking,” Allura said, even though nobody asked her.

Keith swallowed his irritation. None of this was her fault.

Keith almost grabbed Lance’s hand. Instead he stood. “Allura, can you watch Shiro while Lance and I talk for a sec?”

They both looked mildly surprised.

“Of course, Keith,” Allura said. “I’ll take care of him.”

Lance followed Keith a few feet away from the others. Keith’s heart beat in his throat.

He was still deciding on how to start any sort of conversation, so he was relieved when Lance slapped him on the shoulder and said, “I’m glad you’re okay, man. I was worried about you.”

“Oh?” It was off-putting needing to look _down_ at Lance. He hadn’t realized he’d be so much taller when he got back.

Lance hadn’t missed the difference either. He pushed down on Keith’s shoulder, putting his weight on Keith to push off him and bounce. “I can’t believe how tall you got! How old are you now?”

Keith shrugged. “Nineteen? Twenty?”

Lance snorted, shaking his head. “Fucker.”

He smiled helplessly. His heart ached for this boy. “I missed you,” he blurted, trying to inject some real emotion into this interaction.

“You did?” Lance paused halfway through stepping onto a basketball-sized rock that would put him taller than Keith. He was gripping Keith’s shoulder to keep his balance.

“Yeah,” Keith said, heart in his throat. “A lot.”

Lance looked at him for a few moments before a light smirk played across his lips. “How do we know _you’re_ not a clone?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m serious, Lance. I haven’t seen you in two years. You think I didn’t miss you?”

He blinked, teasing falling from his face. “Yeah, no I—I mean, I missed you, too. Just…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I dunno, I haven’t been feeling very miss-able lately.”

Keith wracked his brain trying to figure out what that meant.

Luckily, Lance went on. “The rest of the team is always doing stuff, you were on missions with the Blade. I just end up… existing.”

Keith’s chest seized. That was why he _left._

One of the reasons he’d joined the Blade, after Lance had confessed these same fears of uselessness when there were too many paladins. Keith had left them with the right amount of paladins, so why was Lance still feeling like he didn’t belong?

“You’re a paladin,” Keith said, scrambling for words. “We need you, I promise.”

Lance shook his head, forcing a smile on. “Whatever, it’s fine. We’re going home, and that’s gonna help. I’m gonna introduce Allura to my mom.”

Keith’s stomach lurched hard to the side, following the curve ball Lance threw at him. “Yeah?”

Lance bounced on his toes, nodding. “We’ve been getting closer lately. She was into Lotor there for a bit, but that’s not happening anymore, so I think I’ve got a real shot. We make a good team, you know?”

A steely coldness raced over Keith’s skin, which was the only thing keeping him from replying, _I thought_ we _made a good team._

Instead he said weakly, “Is that right?”

Lance nodded happily, energetic as ever as he rambled about how cool Allura was.

Keith watched Lance step on and off the rock, barely stopping for a second, and how did he look so young? How did Keith feel so old?

How did Keith ever think Lance had liked him?

Maybe, maybe if he hadn’t been gone two fucking years. Maybe if he hadn’t half-convinced himself it was futile to even try. Maybe if Lance wasn't singing a girl’s praises.

Maybe Keith would’ve gotten mad, or demanded answers, or done anything other than nod politely as his soul left his body, embarrassed and frustrated and heart-breakingly disappointed.

But Keith knew when he was beat. Lance liked Allura. Keith wasn’t going to make it awkward by begging for affection that had probably never existed in the first place.

That’s what he’d always told himself, right? Before he’d gotten stranded on that space whale. He wanted Lance to like him, but he knew he didn’t. Isolation had convinced him of his own delusion.

And that was fine. At least he had proof now. And a reason to get over him.

“Anyway,” Lance said after a minute, “I really am glad you’re back, bro. I missed you, too.”

Keith nodded. There was no way he’d be able to talk without his voice breaking. He reached out for a hug, which seemed to surprise Lance, but he reciprocated anyway. He wasn’t on the rock at the moment, so he managed to just hook his chin over Keith’s shoulder.

He rubbed Keith’s back firmly before stepping away. “Looks like age made you soft, Mullet.”

“Maybe one day age will make you sensible,” Keith said, playing along.

He laughed. “We’ll see about that.”

Lance walked away. Back to Allura.

Krolia caught Keith’s eye and raised her brows hopefully.

He shook his head, his entire being heavy.

It wasn’t their time. Maybe it never would be.

 

Universe 3

Patience had never been Keith’s strong suit. Sure it yielded focus, but he also had to focus to be patient.

And this space whale was testing both those skills.

He wanted to get back to defending the universe. He wanted to get back to the team.

He wanted to get back to Lance. Had he even said goodbye before he left for this mission? He might never seen him again. But if he did… he had to tell Lance. Exactly how he felt. Keith had spent too long on this whale, moving forward with nothing to show for it. He couldn’t keep letting time pass by when they could’ve been together by now. He couldn’t ignore any more chances to become something new.

Even when Keith wasn’t trapped on a separate plane or pocket dimension or wherever they were, he’d been away from Lance at the Blade. And he’d felt so far away then, but that was nothing compared to the total isolation of no one but Krolia and his wolf.

His wolf reached just past his knee now, and was still growing. Lance was gonna love her.

“And you’re gonna love him,” Keith said, scratching her behind the ears and shoving his face into hers. “I sure do.”

Her mouth opened in a smile before she licked his face.

Now he just had to tell Lance.

 

A few days later, they returned to the rest of the universe.

Found the Altean. Learned what Lotor had done. Returned to the Castle of Lions.

Everybody looked the same. Maybe no time had passed for them. Maybe their time had passed at the same rate. In any case, it didn’t look like anything drastic. Thank god.

Keith only took a second to be relieved. They had work to do.

Keith announced they had to take down Lotor, and made hasty introductions.

Krolia thanked Shiro for raising Keith.

Keith introduced her as being a member of the Blade. He paused. “Also, she’s my mother.”

“What?” Lance screeched, popping up in front of Shiro. “What? This is nuts! You come back with your Galra mom, a wolf, and an Altean?”

Keith’s wolf bounded over to Lance, tongue lolling.

Lance threw his hands up to protect himself, a second before she blinked out of existence. He dropped his hands, confused, before she appeared in front of him again and tackled him to the ground. He spluttered as she slobbered all over him.

“Hey!” Keith called. Was she that smart? Did she know that was Lance just from how he talked about him? “Not like that. Come here, girl. Get off him.”

She obediently blinked away to sniff around at Hunk’s pockets.

Lance dusted himself off as he stood, demanding, “How’d you get a wolf to listen to you like that?”

“I raised her since she was a puppy.”

Lance looked at him flatly. “You’ve been gone two weeks.”

No, he’d sent word that he was going to investigate the planet where Krolia had been two weeks before they got sucked into the abyss.

“I’ve been gone months. Probably half a year,” Keith said, letting it sink in that no time had passed for the rest of the team.

Which was better. Lotor hadn’t had time to rise to power, or trick Voltron any further than they already were.

And Lance hadn’t had the chance to forget about him.

Lance put his hands on his hips. “I think I’d notice if you’d been missing half a year, Mullet!”

Keith’s lips twitched with a smile.

Krolia cut him a look. “We were stuck in an abyss unaffected by space time. It doesn’t matter right now. This Altean, Ramelle, has important intel about Lotor.”

Keith nodded. Right.

There would be a chance to talk once Lotor was defeated.

 

There almost wasn’t. If it wasn’t for the Black lion, Keith--and the truth about Shiro--would’ve been lost forever.

“Thank you so much, Allura,” Keith said, Shiro’s sleeping-but-alive head in his lap.

They were resting up on the planet they’d stopped on to revive Shiro. Lance and Allura were on either side of Shiro’s body while the others tended to the lions, and each other’s wounds.

“No need to thank me, Keith,” Allura said, worthy exhaustion hanging on her features.

“Yeah, she does amazing stuff like that all the time,” Lance complimented, which Keith didn’t blink an eye at.

But then Lance kept doing it. Fawning over Allura, gazing at her with heart eyes as strong as the first day they got their lions.

And with every second that Lance looked at Allura instead of Keith, Keith got more pissed. Keith was the one who’d been gone for months—but not to Lance. Keith hadn’t been gone long at all, according to anybody but himself and Krolia.

Lance hadn’t even had a chance to miss him

He also had no time to suddenly become obsessed with Allura again. How did that even make sense?

Instead of snapping at both of them, he told them to watch over Shiro and then stomped over to Krolia and his wolf.

“How are you moping again already?” Krolia asked with a put-upon sigh. “We just got back to your friends. We’ll be visiting Earth soon. What could you possibly have to be upset about so soon?”

He plopped down next to his wolf. “I’m not upset.”

“Then why aren’t you with your team? I thought you missed them.”

“I did. They didn't miss me. I haven’t even been gone a month to them.”

Krolia crouched in front of him, pushing the wolf’s snout away when she got nosy and butted in. “Their time passage doesn’t invalidate your experience. And you almost lost your brother. You nearly lost your life. Don’t isolate yourself just because Lance hasn’t thrown himself all over you.”

“Krolia!” Keith gaped, eyes widening. He hadn’t told her about his feelings for Lance, but he’d never been good at subtlety. “You can’t just say that.”

“And you can’t wallow in rejection when he hasn’t rejected you yet.” She lifted a brow when Keith glared at her. “I heard you talking to your dog. You want to confess to him. Go do it. Now.”

He was so exhausted and annoyed he didn’t bother arguing.

“Fine,” he grumbled.

He trudged back over to Lance and Allura and asked Lance to talk alone.

Keith led him away from the others, moving forward out of irritation more than anything, so he didn’t remember to be nervous until they stopped behind a jutting boulder that hid them from view.

Then his heart started beating double time.

Lance slapped him on the shoulder and said, “Hey, I’m glad you’re okay, man. I was worried about you.”

“You were? But to you I was barely gone.”

He waved a hand. “I mean when you went after Shiro. You were god knows how far away, all alone, with a Shiro that sabotaged us. Who knows what could’ve happened.”

“Oh,” Keith said. “Thanks.” He licked his lips. “I missed you. While I was gone.”

His brows rose. “You did?”

“Yeah,” Keith said, heart in his throat. “A lot.”

Lance looked at him for a few moments before a light smirk played across his lips. “How do we know _you’re_ not a clone?”

Keith slapped his chest for an excuse to touch him. “You’re the one who said you’d notice if I was gone six months. You don’t think I’d miss you?”

Lance ducked his head. “That’s different. Everybody notices when you’re gone.”

“So you _did_ notice?” Keith pressed, following that thread of thought. “Allura didn’t take all your attention?”

He crossed his arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He shrugged tightly. He shouldn’t have to say it. “Since when are you crushing on Allura again?”

“I’ve always been crushing on Allura,” he said flippantly.

“Really?” he snapped, white heat flaring up his spine.

Lance swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing.

Keith waited for a response. And waited.

He’d had every intent to throw caution to the wind, tell Lance that he cared about him, missed him, wanted to be more than friends, or rivals, or whatever they were. But if Lance wasn’t going to give even one indication—one _hint_ that Keith hadn’t made everything up in his goddamn head…

“Yeah, her and I make a good team,” Lance said.

Keith almost threw up.

Keith turned his head, like he was scouting their surroundings, as he blinked scalding tears out of his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m sure you do,” Keith choked out. He cleared his throat, forcing the lump there to dissipate. “Okay, well. Cool. Good luck with that.”

Did it matter that Allura was clearly 100% not interested? Nope!

Did it matter that Keith wanted Lance so bad he couldn’t breathe? No!

Because Keith, apparently, had taken every stupid bonding moment they’d ever had way too seriously. He’d thought Lance was bi. Stupid assumption. So Keith had fallen for a straight guy. Or at the very least, someone with absolutely no reason to be interested in him.

Great.

Fuck Krolia for sending him over here.

“I don’t need luck,” Lance muttered as Keith walked away.

“Whatever, Lance,” Keith said, voice drained of any emotion.

He made it back to Krolia, who took one look at his face and didn’t bother to ask how it went.

He wasn’t missing out on a chance if it never existed to begin with.

 

Universe 4 - Lance

Lance was feeling useless. Been feeling that way for a long time. Before there were six paladins to five lions, it had been manageable. He knew he was necessary, if not explicitly essential as a person. But then Allura piloted Blue, and Shiro returned, and Lance… he existed. He was shocked when Keith didn’t immediately take Red back.

He was gutted when Keith left for the Blade. And gutted every time after that, when the Blade and Voltron would intersect for a few precious moments and Keith was back in Lance’s atmosphere for just a little while. But he always left again. He didn’t have to. He said he was doing more good with the Blade, but he looked more exhausted every time Lance saw him.

And then they started working with Lotor, which—Lance did not care for that shit at all.

But Lotor was on the ship now, helping out. And everybody was so, so busy with vitally important duties.

And Lance was just there. Training like normal. Playing video games. Milking Kaltenecker.

He missed Keith. They’d been growing closer, and he thought… maybe…

It didn’t matter.

Keith left, only making cameo appearances in Lance’s life.

Allura was still here.

And _Lotor_.

They were getting awfully close after their trip into Oriande.

Her rejection stung even more after seeing her fall for Lotor. The son of the guy who killed her whole planet and enslaved the universe.

How was Lance not more of a catch than that slimy fucker?

She was so much better than Lotor.

Better than Lance too, but they’d been getting along lately. He helped her pilot Blue, they had fun performing as Voltron under Coran’s drug-induced genius, they had each other’s backs on missions.

Would he really be so bad?

Loverboy Lance wasn’t just a dumb stage name; he was a romantic dying for some affection.

And he was getting tired of nobody caring about him. But he wasn’t contributing to the cause, so why should anyone care? Everybody was working. It wasn’t their fault. He _wanted_ to be useful. He just wasn’t.

And then Keith came back. With his Galra mom and a wolf and an Altean and all this useful information that they absolutely needed to have. Because Keith was so fucking crucial to this team, so he needed to stop _leaving_.

But Lance didn’t say that.

Even after the big fight and losing the castle and getting the real Shiro back.

Lance still didn’t say any of that to Keith. He could barely look at Keith as they sat over Shiro while everyone took a second to catch their breath.

It was so much easier to look at Allura, who was pretty and nice and would maybe, _maybe_ see Lance as an option now that Lotor was revealed to be a villain and was possibly trapped forever in that weird quintessence hole.

While Keith got more pissed by the second.

When Lance touched the new Galra mark on his face, Keith nearly chopped his hand off smacking him away. And then he stomped off to his mom and his wolf.

“Can’t believe he got a puppy,” Lance mumbled after a couple minutes. “Why don’t I get a puppy?”

“You have Kaltenecker,” Allura said.

“A cow is not even close to the same thing as a puppy, Princess.”

“I think it’s a wolf, anyway.”

Lance looked back to—to pout in Keith’s direction, probably, but Keith was already on his way back to them.

“Lance, I need to talk to you for a sec, c’mon.” And then he walked right off, without checking to see if Lance would follow.

But he did. Obviously.

They stopped behind a boulder for some privacy from the rest of the team.

And Keith looked so tired. They all did, but seeing Keith in his scuffed paladin armour, dirty and bloodied with his hair pulled back, reminded Lance that he’d almost died. And he’d had to fight Shiro almost to the death.

Relief overwhelmed him, that Keith was standing here in front of him, roughed up but otherwise fine.

So he said that.

And then Keith said he missed him.

Which set his heart doing all sorts of gymnastics.

So he made a joke about Keith being a clone, because he couldn’t take this right now. He couldn’t get all wrapped up in Keith again, get all his stupid hopes up just for Keith to take off again after Shiro recovered, or they had the castle rebuilt, or whatever.

Keith slapped his chest. Lance resisted the urge to grab his hand. “You’re the one who said you’d notice if I was gone for six months. You think I didn’t miss you?”

After six months with no one but his mom and his new dog. Yeah, Lance was sure he missed the whole team. Lance had been missing Keith since the second that the Blade of Marmora ship took him away.

Which he should not be thinking about right now. But the memory of unwarranted betrayal when Keith announced to the whole team that he was leaving washed over him all over again.

“That’s different,” Lance said. “Everybody notices when you’re not here.”

“So you _did_ notice?” Keith’s eyes shone with intent. “Allura didn’t take all your attention?”

He wiped his sweaty palms on his armour. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Keith spread his arms expectantly. “Since when are you crushing on Allura again?”

“I’ve always been crushing on Allura,” he replied without thinking.

 _“Really_?” he snapped, lips drawing away from his teeth.

Lance swallowed. He knew exactly what that meant.

But would Keith acknowledge it other than glaring at him with the heat of a thousand suns?

“Yeah, her and I make a good team,” Lance said, pulse beating in the hollow of his throat.

Keith’s eyes bulged. For a second Lance thought he was gonna deck him.

Instead he turned his head, coughing. “Yeah, yup. I’m sure. Good luck with that, Lance.”

He started walking away.

Lance should let him. If Keith wanted to leave, Lance should push down the fire rising in his gut and avoid a fight.

Lance grabbed Keith’s wrist. “You don’t get to say that.”

Keith whirled, slamming his palms into Lance’s chest. “I don’t get to _say_ _that_?”

“Alright, here we go,” he muttered with instant regret.

“But you get to say you and Allura make a good team?” Keith sneered like it was a curse, ignoring Lance’s interruption. “You get to forget about our bonding moment? You get to flirt with half the galaxy—”

“You left!” Lance yelled, the dam of politeness finally bursting inside him. “You left us. You left me for the Blade of fucking Marmora, so you could—you could—” he waved a hand up and down his body “—look like a corpse every time you came back to us. Is it the adrenaline rush of almost dying that does it for you? Or did you just get scared?”

Keith scoffed, blinking furiously. “You think I’m scared? I left the only family I’ve had in forever for you.”

Lance shook his head incredulously. “I didn’t want you to go! I wanted you in the castle. I wanted you to stay.” _I wanted you to be with me._ He scrubbed a hand over his eyes.

“You said you were the seventh wheel,” Keith said, voice dropping low for the first time since Lance stopped him from leaving. “I didn’t want you feeling like that.”

“Well I still do,” Lance retorted. “And I _miss_ you.”

They stared at each other, chests heaving, eyes glistening with barely held back tears.

Keith stepped in close. He wove his fingers through the hair at the base of Lance’s neck, and pressed his sweaty forehead to Lance’s. “How much?”

Lance couldn’t say who moved first. All he knew was that between one second and the next, his lips were on Keith’s, and they were kissing each other like they needed it to breathe.

He tugged the tie out from Keith’s hair, burying his fingers in the freed strands. Keith pressed their chests together, armour clacking as they desperately tried to get close as possible.

Lance wanted to fist Keith’s shirt. He wanted to run his palm along his spine. He wanted to feel his heart beat against his.

Keith dragged his nails futiley down his chest piece. “Take off your amour.”

Lance laughed against his lips, kissing him soundly again before saying, “God, Keith, I feel you but we’re kinda, uh, twenty feet away from the rest of the team.”

Keith groaned, and it went straight to Lance’s gut. He twisted Lance’s hair through his fingers, kissing him hard. “Lance, I like you so much. I thought about you all the time and I thought I’d never be able to do this and I’m sorry for leaving.”

“I like you too, so much,” he whispered. He thumbed his jaw line, over Keith’s new Galra mark. “Don’t leave me again.”

He laughed through a sob. “I won’t. I promise I won’t.” He squeezed him tight. “I’m not taking any more chances.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I kicked this out in a day, so it's even less descriptive than usual, but we all just watched s6, so we know what everything looks like, right? Right.  
> Lemme know what you thought!  
> You can find me on [tumblr](http://katranga.tumblr.com) if you want.


End file.
